ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans and welcome to the Ed Show live from New York. Let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, 44TH AND CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If Russia continues to interfere in Ukraine, we stand ready to impose further sanctions.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: I think Vladimir Putin must be encouraged by the absolute timidity.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I`ve heard this theory about, you know, everything was just fine when until we arrived.

To disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.

That we`re going to stir up the hornet nest theory. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign.

OBAMA: I was elected to end wars, not start them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we say never again, we mean never again.

BUSH: Any left freedom and with nations which embraced freedom, are you with the enemy?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks. Thanks for watching.

Are we ready for this again? Is this what it could come to possibly another confrontation? Putin is a little bit different from Saddam. The circumstances are different. But when a country goes something -- goes through something so horrific, there`s just no forgetting and we learn something from it.

Ironically, 11 years ago today, our country made one of the biggest mistakes in American history. The United States invaded the sovereign country of Iraq. Now, on the evening of Wednesday, March 19th 2003, Americans came home to find this man on their TV screen, the President of the United States George W. Bush delivering this disturbing message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets on military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein`s ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP

SCHULTZ: Not to over react but could you imaging President Obama saying something like that about Putin?

This man and his administration`s reckless cowboy foreign policy -- diplomacy left a scar on America and I don`t think we`re ever going to forget it. We lost over 4,000 American soldiers, nobody happy about that, we`re still debating whether it was worth it. And make no mistakes, we were lied into the Iraq war by this crowd, right here. The propaganda campaign from the Bush Administration basically hoodwinked the American people.

Isn`t it just hard to listen to this? Can we do it again?

Here`s just an example of the lies being told by the Bush Administration leading up to the confrontation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies and against us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The United States knows about Iraq`s weapons of mass destruction, as well as Iraq`s involvement in terrorism which is also the subject of Resolution 1441 and other earlier resolutions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapon. But we don`t want this smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Smoking gun, mushroom cloud, the good old days. The lies and the scare tactics took us to Iraq.

Now to this day, our nation is still struggling to recover from George W. Bush`s war of choice. Now, 11 years later, the United States is facing a serious problem with this guy, Vladimir Putin. Different motives? Maybe not.

The invasion of Crimea is something that should not be taken lightly by any American. You don`t where this is going to go. President Obama I think is playing this very close to the vest. I think the president is playing it exactly right. He has to. He`s not jumping to any conclusions or jumping on the gun or anything like that. He`s using diplomacy and sanctions and exhausting, I think, every diplomatic effort. It`s the right thing to do but because of Iraq, he`s been cornered I believe.

Meanwhile, Republicans don`t like the way President Obama has been handling this situation in the Ukraine. Righties have been calling him, "Well, he`s weak."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: This president`s response, I don`t know how it could have been weaker besides doing nothing.

REP LOUIE GOHMER, (R) TEXAS CONGRESSMAN: What you`re seeing, Bryan, is what you get when a community organizer takes on a KGB-ation. It didn`t go well.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: We have a weak and indecisive president that invites aggression. President Obama needs to do something.

RUDY GIULIANI, (R) FMR. PRESIDENTTIAL CANDIDATE: Putin decides what he wants to do and he does it in half a day, right? He went ape, decided he got to go to their parliament, he went to their parliament. He got permission in 15 minutes.

He makes a decision and he executes it quickly then everybody reacts. That`s what you call a leader. President Obama, I got to think about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So, it`s still shoot (ph) from the hit mentality for this crowd. Very predictable because President Obama isn`t doing it the way Bush did it. Well, I guess he`s just weak.

President Obama and his administration have been clear on where they stand and at this point, it really is all about allies. Vice President Joe Biden made it clear that there are limits to what Putin can do.

Here`s what the Vice President said in Lithuania earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES: The reason I traveled to the Baltics was to reaffirm our mutual commitment to collective defense. President Obama wanted me to come personally to make it clear what you already know that under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, we will respond, we will respond to any aggression against the NATO ally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: We will respond. Alone or with NATO? Or will NATO respond?

We`ve heard lines before. We want some definition here. Looking back on the 11 years since the Iraq war, I`m glad President Obama is using caution in dealing with Russia. It`s a good thing that we don`t have a trigger-happy president right now because we can`t afford it. We`d be talking about offsets and who`s going to pay for all of this.

America does not want or need another war. And Putin knows that at this point. So what if he has the upper hand? We`re not committed yet. And we`re looking for allies in all the same places, NATO.

Let`s take a look at the map of the region. This is what we`re dealing with. Why in the world would Putin be so aggressive here? Look, Putin is an international business guy. He likes deals, he loves wealth, he loves power. If you look at what`s going on here, you would think that, "Well, this is really all about energy." If you think it`s about energy, you`re right but it`s not about gas and oil or natural gas. It`s about coal. 95 percent of the domestic resource of the Ukraine is coal. It`s lower in sulfur than some of the coal here in the United States. It`s easy to get to. It`s an unregulated industry over there. It`s the Wild, Wild West so to speak. There`s a lot of mob activity. It`s very profitable and it employs almost a million people. And all of these coal reserves are on the eastern portion of this country.

If Putin were to be able to get in there, it would be very profitable. He could also generate a lot of goodwill by giving stability to the coal industry, the biggest resource in the Ukraine. So if you think it`s about energy, you`re right but it`s about coal.

Then of course there`s the military options. Putin needs this. If he is ever going to build a navy of what they once had, they really don`t have it now, he needs access to the seas. This is the best and only open access to the big seas. So geographically it was an important move for them militarily.

Then there`s the economic impact. We really don`t know how much of an impact all these sanctions are going to have in the short term and it seems that Putin is moving a little bit faster than we want him to move on the diplomatic front and also on the military front.

But the economic impact is going to have an impact on the United States too, these sanctions. In fact today, the Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, he had quite an interesting visit with some of the people at the business round table who do business in Russia, they want to know where this is all going.

So I would advice that every American should be paying attention to this because if this is going to come to a head, it`s going to come to a head over resources. Sound familiar? Is this kind of Iraq all over again? Not really.

We are seeing true aggression from Putin. The question is can we slow him down, what are his intentions, and what is our reaction going to be? Are we going to be talking in the coming days about arming the Ukrainian people who want absolutely nothing to do with Russia, that they want their independence? Is freedom still on the march America? You got a stomach for this?

Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s question, "Will Americans ever let a president lie us into another war?" Text A for Yes, text B for No to 67622, you can always go to our blog @ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in the show.

For more on this, I want to bring in Former Navy Admiral and Former Pennsylvania Congressman who is running for the Senate, Joe Sestak. Admiral, good to have you with us tonight.

FMR. REP. JOE SESTAK, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: Good to be with you, Ed. Thanks.

SCHULTZ: You bet. Your take on this, will the sanctions on these 11 Russians have an impact? And then -- is there an impact back on the American business side?

SESTAK: These sanctions we`ve already imposed aren`t going to have an impact in the short term. But over the longer term, as we do more sanctions it certainly can have an impact. Look, this is a kleptocracy there. They have $230 billion, the cronies of Putin stashed in Western economies. A lot of that money was done by laundering. A lot of that money was gotten by crime.

And by using our treasury department, in order to clamp down and begin to hurt those who are Putin`s cronies can do a lot of damage. But, Ed, also understand that this may have some impact upon our economy, but I don`t believe it`s going to be that major at all. Russia only imports $11 billion of U.S. goods every year, my gosh, in the next four or five days our defense department will spend that.

SCHULTZ: Sure.

SESTAK: It`s less than 0.1 percent of are GDP. And if we don`t act Ed, it means someone like China, and I mean economically act upon and not militarily. Someone like China who`s had conflict with Vietnam over the Spratly Islands might say, "Jeez, I can just can go ahead and clamp down and put my forces to insure the Spratly Islands under which are trillions of dollars of minerals, energy that you talk about." That`s why these sanctions have to be tough.

SCHULTZ: Do you believe that it is about resources? It is about the stability of Russia being able to provide for its people that this coal industry that I talked about is a big player here?

SESTAK: I think first and foremost, it`s about a lieutenant colonel who used to be in the KGB, that has false dreams, that somehow he can hold on to Russian-osaurus type of empire that only now they have Belarus and Ukraine left to them.

SCHULTZ: OK.

SESTAK: That`s what I really -- number two though, is it about the economy and energy? You bet it is. It`s about that natural gas, about that oil in Western Siberia and Eastern Siberia and only in the east are they able to get that out to the ground, they need our technology to get Western Siberia. And that means we have a chance here to clamp down and make sure they don`t get the technology to export in the future natural gas and oil.

SCHULTZ: So what do you think it will take for the United States to act?

SESTAK: I think it has to first of all make sure doing exactly what Vice President Biden is there to do today. He is making sure first and foremost that a message is sent, that the United States is in the forefront of leading NATO in its response to the Ukraine.

And second, he`s reassuring all our allies there that we are here to say. Look, we have moved F-15 and F-18 into Latvia. We have moved them into Poland in the last couple days, just to reconfirm to our NATO allies that Article Five of the NATO treaty, an attack on one of them is attack against all of us is firm.

SCHULTZ: So we`re moving military hardware now to .

SESTAK: It`s been a show of force, absolutely. Look, over the last few years, we`ve even done exercises in Ukraine. We have won with our army and 14 other nations scheduled in Ukraine this summer. We`re going to be there. We`re going to remain out there with our military. But Ed, militaries can`t stop a problem. We can`t fix it.

SCHULTZ: Joe Sestak, what about this option? Arming the Ukrainian people because they don`t want to anything to do with Putin, they want their independence. Do we do that?

SESTAK: I think you are going to see NATO as a whole, led probably by Poland that is going to give definitely non-lethal aide and yes some lethal aide. It will be done primarily through training, giving them intelligence, helping them how to station forces, in order to show that, you know, they`re not alone, we may -- we will not defend them militarily, much like we did in -- for Budapest or the Prague spring when the old Soviet Union went in.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SESTAK: But they know that there`s limits beyond which they can do and that limits have to be demonstrated Ed, by our economic financial sanctions.

SCHULTZ: All right. Joe Sestak, we will have you back on this. Great resource, Admiral. Great to have you with us on the program, love your insight.

SESTAK: Good to be with you.

SCHULTZ: We want to turn now to Jon Soltz. He is a veteran of the Iraq war who is also Chairman of VoteVets.org. Jon, good to have on tonight.

This dynamic between Iraq and Ukraine, it`s totally different, the reasons are going to be different. Do you think the American people would accept any kind of military advancement by the United States to protect NATO`s alliance?

JON SOLTZ, VOTEVETS.ORG: That`s an interesting question. We always say the military, we train to fight one war and we continue to train that way after the war is over and doesn`t prepare us for the next one. And I think unfortunately here and what I find so ironic about the Republican rhetoric out of CPAC in regards to Ukraine and how the president`s been weak is that really their inability to deal with Iraq and the fact that the public was so against it overtime and we never found weapons is really hindering or would be the largest hindrance this president has to any type of aggressive action against Russia.

So the president is really dealing with war fatigue from Iraq and Afghanistan, which was a war that the Republicans lead us into and now they`re sort of, you know, hammering him for not being stronger but he just doesn`t have a lot of support in the American public for any type of intervention whatsoever.

SCHULTZ: Well, if we`re moving military hardware and the vice president speaks the way he did today, where does that leave us? As a vet, how does that make you feel when you hear comments like that and then also match him up against what the Republicans are saying about how President Obama is weak?

SOLTZ: Well, I don`t think the president`s been week here at all. I mean, in fact the president`s been rather more aggressive than I think a lot of people think. I mean, look, we took over an oil tanker outside of Lebanon or Libya last week. He went into almost essentially unilaterally intervene in Syria.

Sure, we`ve moved hardware over there and that`s gives us a certain amount of projection of force capabilities from an air power standpoint, but it doesn`t mean we`re close to intervening militarily. He`s sending a message to our allies in NATO that were there to protect them and that the NATO alliance is strong and really essentially drawing a line and saying it to Putin.

It`s more or less a show of force but it doesn`t mean that we`re close to any type of military altercation in Crimea whatsoever.

SCHULTZ: What are Putin`s military objectives in your opinion?

SOLTZ: Well, I mean Putin`s all about the sea, right? I mean, when you look at Syria for instance and I know you and I talked about this for a long time. I mean, there`s a certain amount of strength that Bashar Assad has. And he is actually getting that support from Putin and that has to do with the Russian naval installation that`s in Syria.

So when you look the Crimea region and you look at that naval base, I mean I think your analysis is rather correct. He cares about his navy in this projection of force but this is really started years ago, I mean I served with the Russian army actually at -- in Kosovo. I know we always talk about it we always talk about Iraq, but .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SOLTZ: . you know, we`ve been moving east for a long time in regards to NATO expansion, and when we took Kosovo, the Russian paratroopers were in Pristina in about five minutes. In fact, they got there quicker than we could, we modify the army because of it. And I serve with them out on the south boarder, I mean they`re out there shooting dogs, you know, they`re a third-rate military at some level.

And anything that has to do with NATO expansion, the U.S. expansion east, into the eastern European states, it always makes Putin very nervous .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SOLTZ: . and reacts with this idea of going to back to sort of the old school soviet dynamic.

SCHULTZ: And I want to tell our audience, this is just now coming to us, an interview with NBC affiliate, KNST, President Obama says the United States will not get involved in military excursion in Ukraine. Jon, your response to that.

SOLTZ: Yeah, I think that`s accurate. I mean, there`s absolutely no support in the American public for this. And the Republican rather, it bothers me, I mean last week, Ed, there was a bill in the United States Senate supported by every veteran service organization, $22 billion to the VA and the Republicans voted against it, yet they want to spend money on missile defense. I mean .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SOLTZ: . the Bush Administration response in Georgia was weak. And in fact, President Bush relied on the French to cut a deal with the Russians.

So, you know, it`s been a long sort of process that`s led us to this point in multiple administrations. And I think the president right now has made the right decision, because until we`ve given diplomacy a chance then we shouldn`t be engaged militarily.

SCHULTZ: Jon Soltz, VoteVets.org, great to have you with us tonight.

SOLTZ: Thanks, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Thank you.

Coming up, the American steel industry is the best in the world. The investment U.S. steel puts into creating the highest quality product, pumps jobs and money back in the local economy. More from out series coming up, "Fighting Chance: American Steel".

But first, the big 10.10 support for minimum wage increase grows across the country, but business leaders are pushing back. Senator Barbara Boxer joins me next.

Stick around, we are right back on the Ed Show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders social media. This is where you can find us, be a part of the gang, Facebook.com/EdShow, Twitter.com/EdShow and also ed.msnbc.com, love to hear from you. And you can listen to my radio show on Sirius XM Channel 127, Monday through Friday, noon to 3 PM. May radio podcast, you can get it at wegoted.com.

The Ed Show social media nation has decided we are reporting. Here are today`s top Trenders voted on by you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A friendly bee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number three Trender, bee ball.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a swarm of bees right now out in the left field. Anybody know a number of an exterminator real quick?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, but be careful or I`m going to sting you with my stinger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A swarm of bees create a buzz around spring training.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They brought out the grounds keepers, they spray them. That`s just going to get them angry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You wouldn`t like me when I`m angry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He sure is got honey (ph), what`s that suppose to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Free honey for everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number two Trender, Maverick TV.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: America, prepare to be amazed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Not again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sarah Palin, the first lady of the outdoors.

SCHULTZ: The half-term governor starts her second term as a reality TV star.

FMR GOV. SARAH PALIN, ALASKA: This show is going to highlight that freedom that we get to experience in America.

I`ll try to find you some and I`ll bring them to you. Get red, wild and blue America. Thanks but no thanks. Amazing America, with me Sarah Palin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quick change the channel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And today`s top trender, wage wars.

OBAMA: It`s time to give America a raise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not what we need right now in a period where we`ve got significant unemployment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re talking about moving people out of poverty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As business leaders push back on a minimum wage increase.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: According to the chief financial officers of this country, roughly half of them in retail say that they would cut jobs if the minimum wage would jump to $10 an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cities across America push forward to help workers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Richmond City Council voted to raise the city`s minimum wage to $12 and 30 cents an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wonder if the hopes to raise the minimum wage in Davis to $15 an hour.

BERNIE GOLDSMITH: That seem only seems high because eight has been ridiculously low.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I propose valid measure in November would raise Oakland to minimum wage to 12.25 an hour. The unemployment drop will be negligible compare to the number of people who will be earning 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent more per year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining us tonight California`s Senator Barbara Boxer. Senator, great to have you with us tonight.

This has become still a -- it`s still a hot conversation and it`s interesting to see how many cities around the country are moving on this, for instance your state of California, the minimum wage is going to move to $9 an hour in July, in 2016 .

SENAOR, BARBARA BOXER, (D) CALIFORNIA: Yes.

SCHULTZ: .it`s going to go to $10 an hour. Is this it the model? Is this how we have to do this if we can`t get federal action?

BOXER: Well, certainly it makes a lot of sense. And in California, you know, there`s no distinction between the tip minimum wage and the regular minimum wage where as the federal law is $2.13 imagine for a tipped worker hasn`t been raised in 22 years, Ed. We need federal action.

And while I so encourage the city in the State to move forward. The pressure should be on these Republicans who brought about in my view under George W Bush because of their policies a horrific economic crash. President Obama got on top of this. Remember we were losing 700,000 jobs a month. We`ve had all these months of job creation, we`ve cut the deficit in half, we have some credibility and I believe there are three things we can do now to get this economy rocking and rolling. And one of them is to raise the minimum wage, the other pay unemployment compensation to those long-term unemployed, and third, pass an immigration bill.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

BOXER: And those three things would get us really moving. So I`m not going to sit back and say let the cities and states do it. I`m going to push as hard as I can and I think we`ve made the case.

The last point on this, I wanted to mention to you is I ran into Robert Reich the other day and he said, "You know, this is the same story we hear over and over again. Oh, we`ll lose jobs, will lose jobs". And when we raise the minimum the wage with Bill Clinton in the White House, we created 23 million jobs. And Reich said it was great to thing do and I think he has credibility.

SCHULTZ: Well, there`s 70 percent of the American people according to a Bloomberg poll that certainly .

BOXER: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: . want the minimum wage to move forward. It`s interesting. I did a Town Hall down in Florida last weekend and there was a lot of support for raising the minimum wage, but not everyone was convinced. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? Come on .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If 10 is such a good idea .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: .let`s (inaudible) down.

SCHULTZ: Would you rather not have the minimum wage group?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course. There`s a free market.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you -- do you think there should be a minimum wage at all?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not at all. It`s a free market.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much that people can make in an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much do you pay these factory workers? 250 an hour?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don`t have to take the job if you don`t want it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Isn`t that what you need, Senator, the passion of the people for this to happen? I was .

BOXER: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: . rather taken, it was no shoulder shrugging going on when I asked that question. I mean, they`re into it.

BOXER: Well, we need the passion of the people and we need the people to vote, Ed, in this midterm election.

SCHULTZ: Is this an election mover?

BOXER: These are the issues that are confronting us. Oh, my God, this is a huge difference between the parties. Sadly, it never used to be. Under George W., we raised the minimum wage. We did it in a few steps. This makes no sense but that`s where the parties are. You know, two-thirds of small businesses support an increase in the minimum wage because, you know, they`re very smart, they see that if their workers have some extra money in they`re pocket they will spend it on the products that they sell, that they produce. Henry Ford understood this. And I think it`s important to know that the average age of a minimum wage worker is 35, Ed. It`s not kids, it`s grown ups.

SCHULTZ: It is.

BOXER: And may of them -- single mom or dad with two kids, they have minimum wage job, they`re under the poverty line of 15,000 a year. They can`t make it. This is America and we got to do better.

SCHULTZ: Well, we`re talking about ...

BOXER: It is an election issue.

SCHULTZ: But we`re talking about helping the poor here. 10.10 an hour which would be in three years, it`s not very lofty goal but it is certainly moving forward. We`re still talking about somebody making under $21,000 a year. I mean we`re .

BOXER: Yes, yes, it would.

SCHULTZ: .and hopefully this will bring upward pressure on wages to the middle class. I hope it happens, Senator .

BOXER: No question. If you move it -- I was going to say, if you move it to 10.10, it would be a justice for inflation from 1968.

SCHULTZ: Senator Barbara Boxer, great to have you with us tonight, thanks so much.

Coming up, U.S. steel workers take intense pride at their jobs, product in community. But the steel industry model for investing an American job is facing serious challenges, thanks to bad trade deals. We`ll have more from our series "Fight Chance: American Steel".

And later, Governor Chris Christie lashes out at a healthcare policy advocate. Maura Collinsgru during a New Jersey Town Hall, she joins me for an exclusive interview coming up.

But next, I`m taking your questions. Ask Ed Live just ahead on the Ed show on MSNBC, we`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Thanks for staying with us tonight. I love hearing from our viewers. Tonight in our Ask Ed Live question, our first question comes from Bert, "Who has the bigger ego: Scott Walker or Chris Christie?"

They`re equal, very equal. That one`s does surprise me. I guess I wasn`t expecting a question like that. Scott Walker has got a huge ego and so does Chris Christie. Who`s bigger? I don`t know. They`re the same.

Let`s -- the next question comes from Mitch (ph), and he wants to know, "Could Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear be a viable 2016 Vice Presidential candidate?"

Yes, he could. There`s no doubt to that. He`s on yeoman`s work on the healthcare. He`s on a good job with the economy. But the question is, can he bring Kentucky with him?

Part three of our series, "Fighting Chance: American Steel" up next. Stay with us.

Stocks slide and worries about rising rates. The Dow falling from 114 points, the S and P off by 11, and the NASDAQ dropping 25.

Comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen unnerve investors. She said interest rates would remain near zero for a considerable time or about six months after quantitative easing ends.

And on the earnings front, FedEx posted revenue and earnings that we`re below estimates. The company`s full-year guidance also disappointed.

That`s it from CNBC, first in business world wide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. The culture of steel in America has always been about industry and workers operating hand-in-hand to make it happen. In the midst of bad trade deals, that synergy is more important than ever before. But in order to be successful, Congress needs to take action to support what the industry is trying to accomplish in America.

Tonight, I take you inside U.S. Steel plant in Lorain, Ohio to continue our series, "Fighting Chance: American Steel."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of your quotes from last year, where you said, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." So how do you respond to those Democratic lines of attack?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) KENTUCKY: Well, that is true.

SCHULTZ: Republican obstruction has prevented us from passing a meaningful jobs bill or investing in our infrastructure. The Republican demand for austerity has slashed critical budgets and left many Americans without the safety net they desperately need.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, the Republican leadership is bringing to the floor one of the most heartless pieces of legislation I have ever seen, a bill to take food away from some of our most vulnerable neighbors.

SCHULTZ: In the absence of leadership in Washington, U.S. Steel is taking the lead in investing in American jobs.

These pipes, U.S. Steel, American made. Here in Lorain, Ohio, U.S. Steel has invested over $200 million in the latest state of the art technology. They`re banking on American workers. They`re banking on the future. And here in this community, over 700 workers come into this plant everyday. And that dollar turns on Main Street. It`s what America is all about.

JOHN WILKINSON, PLANT WORKER, LORAIN, TUBULAR OPERATIONS: Still lot of the newer equipment. This facility was built by the commission in September 2011. A lot of this is the newer equipment, the newer designs, what`s the best to use. This industry has changed. It`s not what you saw back in the 1960s, the 1970s where you had these big hammers and the big ladles, and what everybody think it is on TV.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WILKINSON: It`s precision. It`s intricacy. It`s being knowledgeable on what you`re doing and understanding and caring, and we`ve always had that. But now, it`s obviously a lot bigger. We have so much more technology. The industry is changing. Customers are asking for more. We want to make sure we deliver. With all these work from synchronization, we got people involved and we`re making sure that everything is going appropriately. And from there, it will go through our strengthener and that`s where we`re going to make that strengthened property. To make sure as they go down hole there`s no binds or hang ups. Make sure that it fits in the engineering with requirements they are looking for.

SCHULTZ: If I`d come in here 10 years ago, would I see the same stuff?

WILKINSON: No, this facility wouldn`t have been here. This facility would actually have been empty.

SCHULTZ: In the past two years, U.S. Steels projected $200 million investment has created at least 70 full time positions at Lorain tubular operations and hundreds of part time construction jobs. $100 million was invested to construct the number six plant in temper line, equipped with the latest advanced technology. Another $100 million is set to be invested to upgrade Lorain`s seamless mill to expand Lorain to pipe production. But these steel workers aren`t just turning out the best quality product. They take great pride in what they do.

WILKINSON: The equipment that you use and the quality system that you have in place. To our quality system, one, we have world class people, we have world class equipment, we maintain it appropriately and on top of it, our quality system is designed to make sure that we hold ourselves accountable to our customers who are in use, the environment, because what we tell everybody, our quality is their safety.

We have a (inaudible) product bad out the environment that endangers people`s lives, that endangers the environment, that endangers their overall health and their business. We`re not willing to compromise them. So, that quality system that we have impart, just like anything else. A piece of paper, the great document and has a lot of information, but its people`s interaction with that.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

WILKINSON: That`s where you have that great work force, get a comment and say, this is important to me. But it`s our name on this pipe. We put it into American soil and it means so much to us. So that quality system is a great thing. But if the people don`t grab on to it, understand it, and really be passionate about it, it`s just a piece of paper. And we`re very fortunate here on Lorain because we have people like that. They really grasp on to it. They are passionate about it. And they apply it everyday. And that`s what differentiates us in the market.

SCHULTZ: U.S. Steel isn`t just making an investment in Lorain`s steelworkers. They`re making an investment in the community of Lorain, Ohio.

JOHN YOUNGBERG, PLUMBERS & STEAMFITTERS LOCAL: When the mills make an investment and new processes, new equipment, there`s a lot of investment there with, you know, hydraulics, all the different types of piping systems that are needed to keep all that stuff running. We`ve got 40 members out there working right now and same thing is what Mark (ph) alluded to its, you know, its jobs.

SCHULTZ: When you guys hear that the U.S. Steel has dump $200 million to the future, what`s it mean to you? What do you think about that? I mean, they just made a huge investment.

YOUNGBERG: It`s in investment in the community.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

YOUNGBERG: You know, the people that live here, the people that work here, the people that pay taxes here, and that`s -- it means a lot to us.

SCHULTZ: And to do mentally for the community?

YOUNGBERG: Well, it really brings the community out, you know, when you had that kind of investment. It keeps, you know, local jobs, so the dollars turn over here in the community, because of the local participation that we have with the trades.

MARK HORTON, OHIO FIREFIGHTERS: We need this type on investment, this type of workers and that`s what makes this county great. We can get back to where we were once, if we get that commitment from the workers in this county, U.S. Steel in particular. It was an outstanding thing they`ve done for us. It picks up everyone just to -- we have to make something in this county other than fast (inaudible).

SCHULTZ: But the investment in Lorain tubular operations won`t pay off, if we continue to fall victim to bad trade deals and fail to enforce trade laws against countries like South Korea.

WILKINSON: We`re passionate about what we do. We`re knowledgeable of what we do. Put a quality product into this market. And I watch it sometimes, you know, be fruitless, those efforts to be fruitless because we`re being undercut, because it`s not a fair situation. Are we scared in competition? Absolutely not. We`ll go head-to-head against anybody any day of the week.

SCHULTZ: It`s just amazing what the American worker can do, an American technology.

WILKINSON: Absolutely. Little support, we`ll do, we can accomplish anything. I`ve never seen any American worker turn down a challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So what is it about our Congress that they just don`t get that enough? They think that a trade deal with South Korea is better for America. The ripple effect, it is real. Lorain tubular operations employs 730 workers, and has an annual payroll of $77.5 million. Their vendor spending in Ohio alone was over $116 million to $237 Ohio vendors.

Congress, it`s about American workers, it`s about the middle class.

Tomorrow night, we focus on the ripple effect. Still to come, Chris Christie bullies an audience member at a New Jersey Town Hall. Again, I`ll have an exclusive interview with the woman he lashed out at. Coming up next, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight, Putin envy Franklin Graham, Billy Graham`s son is ready to hang Vladimir Putin`s portrait right there over the fireplace down there in North Carolina. Franklin Graham has never been friendly to gay rights issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKLIN GRAHAM, PRESIDENT/CEO, BILLY GRAHAM EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION AND OF SAMARITAN`S PURSE: God, and makes it very clear that marriage is between a man and woman and there`s no discussion about it.

There`s no way you can have a family with two females or two males. If you just think biologically how God made us plumbing.

It should be a great mistake if our nation went down this road.

I`m not homophobic. I`m not against gay or lesbian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: No, not at all. Now, Franklin Graham is doubling down in sighting Vladimir Putin as a crusader for morality. Graham says, Putin has taken a stand to protect his nation`s children from damaging effects of any gay and lesbian agenda. And America`s own morality has fallen.

Franklin Graham is applauding persecution, not morality. If Franklin Graham thinks human rights violations are the moral code America needs, he can keep on pretending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. This is the story for the folks who take a shower after work. Everybody loves healthcare, except Chris Christie. He`s back to his old bullying tactics.

On Tuesday, in a Town Hall in New Jersey, a health policy advocate took the microphone, Maura Collinsgru, asked the governor to address his failure to facilitate Medicaid expansion and the exchange got heated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAURA COLLINSGRU, HEALTH POLICY ADVOCATE IN CITIZEN ACTION: You have taken what the feds have given and not put up the state resources to match .

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: That`s simply not true.

COLLINSGRU: The money .

CHRISTIE: I didn`t accept the federal resources.

COLLINSGRU: . you did not .

CHRISTIE: I didn`t accept the federal resources. I wanted to .

COLLINSGRU: .. take the savings since the Medicaid program is realizing from the cost shifting of federal dollars needs to remain in the Medicaid program includes .

CHRISTIE: You`re simply wrong.

COLLINSGRU: . increasing staffing. No, I`m not wrong.

CHRISTIE: No, you`re wrong that the Medicaid program has been expanded. We`re spending more dollars today, both federal and state, on Medicaid than we did it at the beginning of my administration. So, you`re simply wrong. And to stand up here and to misinform people because you have an agenda is just simply incorrect.

COLLINSGRU: No. We have a budget statement. We will be happy to share it with you.

Governor Christie says you were misinforming the public. I want to clear that up. What was he talking about?

COLLINSGRU: Well, I think the governor just doesn`t want people to know what the real position is of his administration. He has not done anything to help people connect the coverage through the health insurance marketplace. And we have hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans who are eligible for that coverage and eligible for assistance.

SCHULTZ: Now, you -- this is a watchdog or consumer watchdog organization, correct?

COLLINSGRU: Yes, we do. Yes.

SCHULTZ: OK. So the money that is coming into New Jersey, it`s not being allocated properly?

COLLINSGRU: Much of the money that comes into New Jersey is not being allocated properly in healthcare. The governor had an opportunity to use $7.6 billion to promote the health insurance marketplace, and rather than do that, he sent the money back to the U.S. Treasury.

SCHULTZ: So, the savings achieved by the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act due to the federal cost shifting should be used to improve healthcare for low income families. That`s not happening?

COLLINSGRU: Well, the governor has an opportunity to do more of that. And he`s not doing that. He is moving the money from the Medicaid program and last year, he plugged tools in the general budget. We are asking him to make this the opportunity that it really is to expand and improve healthcare for all New Jerseyans, not use it as an opportunity to take away some state resources.

SCHULTZ: He seems to be playing both sides of the fence here. He`s all for kind of healthcare reform but he just can`t get too close to Obamacare.

COLLINSGRU: That -- well, I would say that`s correct. He says he`s for the Medicaid expansion, but Medicaid expansion was part of the Affordable Care Act. It`s one of its cornerstones. So, you can`t have it both ways. You`re either for it or you`re not.

SCHULTZ: Does -- do the residents of New Jersey want this expansion?

COLLINSGRU: Absolutely.

SCHULTZ: So he is, in your opinion, doing what, denying the people?

COLLINSGRU: He is standing in the way of many people connecting to what they need to be more healthy and live more healthy and productive life.

SCHULTZ: I don`t want to make this personal, but, this man loves to get up and pontificate and he`s very combative, how do that feel?

COLLINSGRU: Well, you know, it was like going around with some of the lawyers that I used to do that with. So, I was very surprised to be called on. We`ve been out in the forefront of this issue for a long time, but, you know, this is not about Governor Christie and I, this is about connecting New Jerseyans to healthcare coverage.

SCHULTZ: Did you feel like you`re fairly treated?

COLLINSGRU: I felt he was a bit rude. But, we were glad that if nothing else, it was a way to get the message out.

SCHULTZ: So, what do you want the governor to do totally across the board right now as we`re closing in on this deadline? I mean, you obviously want to see him make a shift and he`s not going to do. What could he do to make this right?

COLLINSGRU: The governor could let people know what`s happening with their applications. They`ve been delayed in the New Jersey family care system. He could let them know what the status of that is and give them a reassurance. The governor could also help to publicize the health insurance marketplace. Why is that you can sign up and register to vote in a motor vehicle agency when you can`t find out anything about healthcare? Things like that really are an easy lift for the governor to do and to and to disseminate the information through his agency.

SCHULTZ: Is he purposely dragging his feet on this?

COLLINSGRU: Absolutely. I think so.

SCHULTZ: And there`s a lot that he could be doing even he were against Obamacare.

COLLINSGRU: Yeah. The governor has been totally silent on this. And we`re asking him to use his bully pulpit to tell people what the options are. It`s OK if he doesn`t agree with Obamacare, but let New Jerseyans decide what is that they can choose.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.END

<Copy: Content and programming copyright 2014 MSNBC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2014 Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.>